Mary L. O’Brien of Lunenburg, who was born in Salem and raised in Peabody, died on Friday, October 23, 2026 with her family around her. She was 94.
She was the daughter of Patrick J. and Eva M. (Belanger) O’Brien, grew up on Washington Street in Peabody with summers at her grandparents’ farm in Danvers and her aunts’ homes in Marblehead, and graduated from St. John’s High School in Peabody. She worked for New England Telephone in Peabody Square until she started her family, raised her children in Peabody, prayed the rosary daily and set her table for 12 to 14 every weekend. In retirement she moved to Lunenburg to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and John Beale, who cared for her.
Her four children survive her: Virginia “Ginger” and her husband James in Summerfield, Fla., Patricia and her husband Edward Taylor in Haverhill, Cathy and John Beale in Lunenburg, and Robert and his husband Stephen Smith-Clocher in Chelmsford. So do eight grandchildren, January Diaz, Andrea Guarino, Amanda Cannon, Brenden Clocher, Andrew Beale, Shaun Clocher, Mark Wesgan and Christopher Beale, and their spouses; 14 great-grandchildren, with a fifteenth due in February; and many nieces and nephews. A sister, Eva Drinkwater, six brothers, Theodore, Edward, Joseph, Jack, Richard and Bobby O’Brien, and a grandson, Joshua Taylor, died before her.
Visitation is Thursday, October 29 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Lake, 1400 Main Street, Leominster, followed by an 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial and burial at North Cemetery, Lunenburg. Arrangements are by the Murphy Funeral Home, Salem. The family suggests donations to Eagle House Supporters, 25 Memorial Drive, Lunenburg.
Compiled from information published by Murphy Funeral Home. Photograph courtesy of the family via Murphy Funeral Home. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
